Adrian Shooter has announced that his Beeches Light Railway will be closing permanently after 15 years in May this year, 2019.It is intended, however, to re-locate it to another site not too far distant and for it to reopen in spring next year, 2020.The new layout will be a little different and about 50% longer but will still feature significant gradients and other features of interest.All the existing rolling stock will be transferred to the new location.Further details will be revealed in due course.

The DHRS is able to offer tickets to the BLR on Saturday 30th March, one of the last events to be held at the Steeple Aston site.Tickets are £25. The event starts at 12.00 and includes lunch.

The history, build details and operating practices, and it includes detailed plans for model makers too. It expands considerably on the knowledge base we have from previous publications and will prove to be the definitive work on this iconic class of locomotives which have worked on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway since 1889! Written by David Churchill, probably the world’s foremost authority on Darjeeling Locomotives, it balances diligent research with information from the DHRS archive and the support of friends with specific expertise. The book also covers the locomotives initially delivered to the Raipur Forest Tramway and those subsequently sold to Coal India to work at Tipong in Assam. No-one with an interest in the DHR or the surrounding area should be without it.